Vicious Circle (L.A. Guns album)

Vicious Circle
Studio album by L.A. Guns
Released	February 7, 1994
Genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, thrash metal
Length	53:37
Label	Polydor
Producer	Jim Wirt
L.A. Guns chronology
Best Of: Hollywood a Go-Go (1994) Vicious Circle (1994) American Hardcore (1996)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Vicious Circle is the fourth album by L.A. Guns. Most of the songs have Phil Lewis on lead vocals, but the track "Nothing Better to Do" features Kelly Nickels on lead vocals, and "Tarantula" is instrumental. MC Bones drums on several songs. Lewis and Bones also played together in the band Filthy Lucre. Filthy Lucre bandmates Steve Dior and Jim Wirt sing backing vocals on several songs. Wirt was also the album's producer and engineer.

After Bones left the band after recording, Steve Riley rejoined the band to tour for the album; it was the last time the classic line-up played together until 1999, Tracii Guns and Riley being the only classic members remaining after the tour.

According to L.A. Guns folklore, Guns originally left the band prior to recording Vicious Circle. With Guns gone, the remaining members kicked around the idea of renaming the band L.A. Nickels, after bassist Kelly Nickels, before opting to keep the L.A. Guns name. PolyGram was completely unaware the guitarist had left the group. The record company would later threaten legal action against the group when they discovered Guns was missing during the recording process. As a result, Guns returned to the band to finish the recording of the album and subsequent tour. This whole scenario is probably what inspired the album's title: Vicious Circle. Which was defined in the album credits as: A situation in which the solution to each problem gives rise to another, eventually bringing back the initial problem.

Track listing

1. "Face Down" - 4:11
2. "No Crime" - 2:35
3. "Long Time Dead" - 3:22
4. "Killing Machine" - 3:27
5. "Fade Away" - 4:11
6. "Tarantula" - 0:56
7. "Crystal Eyes" (American and European bonus track) - 5:53
8. "Nothing Better to Do" - 2:52
9. "Chasing the Dragon" - 4:50
10. "Kill That Girl" - 3:13
11. "I'd Love to Change the World" - 3:39
12. "Who's in Control (Let 'Em Roll)" - 4:02
13. "I'm the One" - 2:28
14. "Why Ain't I Bleeding" - 4:32
15. "Kiss of Death" - 5:55
16. "Death in America" (Japanese bonus track)
17. "Empire Down" (Japanese bonus track)

Personnel

• Phil Lewis - lead vocals except on "Tarantula" and "Nothing Better to Do"
• Tracii Guns - lead guitar
• Mick Cripps - rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• Kelly Nickels - bass guitar, lead vocals on "Nothing Better to Do"
• Michael Gershima - drums

Additional personnel

• Drums - Doni Gray, Myron Grombacher and Nickey Alexander
• Backing vocals - Steve Dior and Jim Wirt from Filthy Lucre
• Jim Wirt - producer and engineer
• Dale Lavi - photographer

References